5 Day Workout Routine That Gets Results

by Melissa - February 14, 2012

5 Day Workout Routine That Gets Results

For some people, working out three days a week just does not provide the results they want fast enough, so a 5 day workout routine is a great solution. While you could technically work out six or seven days a week, you really need to schedule breaks so your body has time to recuperate in between exercise sessions. Of course, exercise alone does not create a great body. A proper balanced diet with plenty of fluids is a key component to getting the body results you want.

Cardio exercise is an important part of any workout as it limbers up the body to prepare it for targeting core muscle groups. You should really fit in at least 30 minutes of cardio each day, reaching and maintaining your target heart rate the entire time. You can do it all at once at the beginning of your exercise session or split it up – half before working your muscle groups and half afterward. Great cardio options include elliptical machines or treadmills, a brisk walk or jogging, a stationary bike or even jump roping or high step marching.

Day 1

In addition to your 30 minutes of cardio, choose one muscle group to target. For instance, if you choose legs for your first day of the week, you can do calf raises, squats and lunges with or without dumbbells or barbells. If you have access to weight resistance machines, you can also add leg presses, hamstring curls and knee extensions.

Day 2

After performing a different cardio routine, target your next muscle group in your 5 day workout routine. Since legs were day one, the chest is a good second choice. The incline bench press works the pectoral muscles in the chest as can dumbbell flies, push-ups with an exercise ball and parallel bar dips.

Day 3

Again, alter your cardio exercise if possible for your 30 minute session before targeting another muscle group like your back. Pull-ups on a chin bar, wide grip pull-downs, barbell rows, dumbbell or barbell deadlifts, lying back presses and rowing machine moves work all muscle areas of the back.

Day 4 – Rest

The fourth day should be a no exercise day to allow your body to rest and recuperate. This will allow you to be ready for another few days of fitness.

Day 5

Don’t forget your cardio exercise as it helps promote fat burning! Your next target muscle group can be your shoulders as they have not been totally engaged in your workouts on the previous days of fitness routines. Some great shoulder moves include dumbbell overhead raises, deltoid military raises, dumbbell upright rows and lateral raises, reverse incline dumbbell flies and bent over rear deltoid raises.

Day 6

Warm up with your favourite cardio exercise before targeting your last major muscle group, the arms. Dumbbell bicep curls, tricep extensions, reverse barbell preacher curls, bar chin ups, hammer dumbbells curls, dumbbell kickbacks and bench dips are all great moves to tone up your arm muscles.

Day 7 – Rest

The seventh day should be another rest period for your body before starting your fitness routine all over again in the new week.

During this 5 day workout routine, you can choose three to five days to add ab exercises to the mix. Unlike the other muscle groups, the abdominals recover more easily, especially if you don’t overdo each day. Bicycle crunches, ab crunches, the plank, flutter kicks, oblique crunches and exercise ball crunches are just a few of many options to tone the abdominal muscles.

A 5 Day Workout Routine does work, Try it Now and You Will See Results Too!

Home Workout Routines You Can Create

by Weight Loss - February 13, 2012

Home Workout Routines

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Creating your own home workout routines can help you get fit and healthy without spending money. You won’t feel self-conscious in your workout clothes and you can do exercises on your own schedule. Plus, you can listen to your favorite music or television program at the same time!

The Planning Stages

In order to devise an effective exercise program, you must create a long term goal and then develop a series of short term goals to achieve. This will keep your motivation going because without a goal, your fitness routines are doomed to fail before you even start. Your objective could be to drop a pants size or two or to lose weight and lower your cholesterol.

With your goal in mind, create a schedule for exercise and stick to it; building in a day off is important too, your body needs a rest but also for peace of mind. The most effective home workout routines will exercise only two or three muscle groups at a time. This practice will allow your muscles to recuperate, thereby avoiding muscle damage or fatigue.

Home Workout Routines For example, one day you could work your legs and back, then another day your chest and shoulders and then arms the next time. With your abdominals, you can incorporate a few exercises each day as they are not as prone to injury. Alternating cardio exercises in between working your large muscle groups will help you burn fat.

Workout Routine Examples

No matter what your exercise routine is for the day, it is important to warm up your muscles first. This could be a few minutes of cardio such as walking, bicycling or even jumping jacks. Anything that gets the heart pumping and your muscles warming. What you should not do is stretch when the muscles are still “cold” as this may actually create tears in them instead of warming them up for use.

Home workout routines that incorporate legs and back should include lunges, squats and calf raises. These three moves are the foundation of strengthening your lower body and back. Once these moves become too easy, you can add resistance such as weights to challenge your body. Abdominal muscles can get quite the workout with ab crunches, oblique crunches, leg lifts and bicycle crunches.

The upper body tends to be more challenging for some. There are a few exercises that don’t require resistance such as elastic bands or dumbbells. These fitness moves include push-ups, tricep bench dips and pull-ups or chin-ups using a pull-up bar. Using weights, you can exercise your biceps with hammer curls and bicep curls while your triceps get a workout with dumbbell extensions. Shoulder muscles develop with weights on lateral raises, dumbbell rows and shoulder presses whereas the chest muscles benefit from dumbbell flies and bench presses.

Once you finish your exercising for the day, this is the time to incorporate stretches which will help keep your muscles from tightening.

After following your home workout routines for a period of time, it is important to swap some of the exercises for new ones to keep your body guessing. Allowing your muscles to become complacent from repetitive moves will slow your progress.

There are many more Home Workout Routines You Can Create. Use your imagination!

Gym Workout Routines For Women

by Weight Loss - January 27, 2012

Gym Workout Routines For Women

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Weight loss is often the chosen goal in regards to gym workout routines for women. However, did you know that many women gravitate to cardio options such as the treadmill, elliptical machine or various exercise classes, not realizing that weight training is an excellent addition to losing weight?

Adding resistance to your fitness plan not only helps burn fat just like cardio, it also strengthens your bones as well as tone muscles. There is a reason why gyms offer a number of resistance machines and free weights to its members for use.

Cardio is a Good Warm-up and Exercise Routine

It is never a good idea to jump into your fitness routine without warming up your body. Cardio exercises are an excellent way to wake up the muscles without risking injury. Swimming, biking on the stationary bicycles and walking or jogging on the treadmill are great cardio options as are aerobic classes, a session on the elliptical or even boxing classes.

Cardio exercises should also be incorporated into gym workout routines for women as they offer great fat burning properties. A 30 to 45 minute session at the target heart rate for your body will jump start your body’s metabolism and burn fat optimally.

Take Advantage of the Resistance Machines

While cardio will kickstart fat burning, weight training for women is essential to tone muscles and strengthen bones. There are machines that will work large muscle groups just as there are machines that isolate single muscles. Some machines use a cable pulley system that uses your own body weight for resistance while others require that you adjust weights for resistance.

Building a fitness plan is essential for realizing successful results. While you can create your own plan with some research, a personal trainer can help devise a workout routine too. The best gym exercise plan will require that you have at least two or three cardio days to rev up your metabolism to burn fat as well as alternating days for weight training, working on specific large muscle groups, although not on consecutive days.

For instance, one day you might warm up with cardio and then work out your upper body and abdominals. The next day would be strictly cardio with the following day starting with a cardio warm-up again along with a lower body workout along with abdominals.

Before investing in a gym membership, think hard about your ultimate fitness goals. What you are trying to achieve will help you form the best gym workout routines for women. And one final thought – cardio and weight training alone will not help you achieve your fitness goals. You must also eat a balanced, healthy diet plan too. Exercise is not a free pass to eat what you want.

How To Get Rid Of Cellulite On Thighs

by Weight Loss - January 16, 2012

How To Get Rid Of Cellulite On Thighs

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If you are someone who wants to figure out how to get rid of cellulite on thighs, you’re not alone. This is a common area of concern, especially for women.

A vast majority of women (some studies say that less than 10% won’t get it) have issues with cellulite.

Whether you’re overweight, thin, or thin and formerly overweight, cellulite doesn’t seem to discriminate and it can seem difficult to get rid of.

There are several approaches for cellulite:

Exercising and Cellulite

Exercise can take effort and a lot of people want faster results but it’s important to know that exercise can help you reduce cellulite. Cardio exercises, in particular, can help you get rid of cellulite on thighs, backside, and elsewhere. Swimming is a great option for fighting cellulite, too.

Body Cleanses to Reduce Toxins

Cleansing the body and massage that stimulates cleansing of the lymphatic system (such as dry skin brushing) can help the body rid itself of cellulite.

Cellulite is, in essence, fat deposits. Many people benefit from Epsom salts soaks, too.

Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate and they can help cleanse your system.

Two cups of Epsom salts in a bath 2x a week can add up. Be sure you take about a 15-20 minute soak.

Cellulite Creams

There are some helpful creams on the market that show great results in many problem areas such as stretch marks and cellulite.

It’s smart to read product reviews for cellulite creams before investing as you can find out, through reviews, about whether or not these creams might be suited for you.

Cosmetic Treatments

How To Get Rid Of Cellulite On Thighs There are non-invasive type cosmetic treatments to reduce cellulite, such as body wraps but you can also have a more invasive type of therapy to help you, such as liposuction.

Liposuction can be expensive but it can be an effective way of how to get rid of cellulite on thighs and elsewhere.

Hydration

Drinking a lot of water can help cleanse the body of toxins, including fat.

This can be a great way of how to get rid of cellulite on thighs, stomach, and buttocks.

Diet

The food you eat can have a big impact on development of new cellulite.

Eating within a healthy calorie range with plenty of foods from all the food groups (except for junk food!) will help you.

Learning How To Get Rid Of Cellulite On Thighs and elsewhere will change your life. Do it!

Swiss Ball Exercises – A Great Overall Workout

by Weight Loss - January 12, 2012

Swiss Ball Exercises for a Great Overall Workout

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Swiss ball exercises offer great benefits for an effective workout. They help you target core muscles that are crucial for good posture and stability, particularly your abdominal muscles and lower back. Because the Swiss ball rolls, you have to continually adjust your body to maintain balance which in turn will improve your overall flexibility and balance.

To ensure you get the most out of your exercises with the Swiss ball, you must choose the correct size and determine that it is inflated properly. While ball packaging will provide guidelines according to height and weight, the best test is to sit on the ball fully inflated. If your thighs are parallel to the floor, it is the correct size for you. Proper inflation will ensure that whatever exercise you perform, whether they are for the upper body, lower body or abdominal area, will be effective and beneficial.

Examples of Upper Body and Back Exercises

Push-ups are one of the most effective Swiss ball exercises for the chest and arm muscles. Lie down horizontally with your hands on top of the ball shoulder width apart and your back and legs fully extended. Push up on the ball until your arms are extended and then slowly lower yourself back down.

Another variation of the push-up is to lie down with your thighs or feet resting on top of the ball, with your hands on the floor and legs extended. Push yourself up from the floor, extending your arms and then lower yourself back down. Repeat the move.

The alternating arm and leg extension Swiss ball move is great for your back. Lie on top of the ball on your belly and keep your balance with your hands and feet on the floor. Extend your right arm out and left leg up, hold for three seconds and then lower them. Repeat the move with alternating sides.

Examples of Lower Body and Abdominal Exercises

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One of the most popular Swiss ball exercises for the legs is the ball squat. Stoop with your back pressed into the ball, against a wall, and slowly lower yourself until your knees are at a 90 degree angle while yo

ur hands are behind your ears. Pause for a few seconds and then slow raise yourself up, while still bracing your back against the ball on the wall. Repeat the movement.

You can perform great ab workouts with the ball crunch exercise. Lie down on the Swiss ball with lower back pressed against it and your feet flat on the floor. Place your hands behind your ears and then roll your shoulder blades up until your abs engage, pause a moment and then return to your original position. Repeat the move.

There are many exercises that you can adapt into Swiss ball exercises – both with and without extra equipment like dumbbells and resistance bands. Using the ball, you can effectively target certain muscle groups to strengthen the areas that need the most work.

Upper Body Workout Routine for Beginners

by Weight Loss - January 4, 2012

Upper Body Workout Routine For Beginners

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If you have never really embarked on a fitness program before, creating a well-rounded upper body workout routine is important. Men and women may want different things out of their exercise plan but both will benefit from an effective workout for the chest, arms, shoulders and back.

Fat burning and toning or sculpting muscle in the upper body will help clothes fit better and create better posture, two elements that really boost confidence in appearances.

Things To Keep In Mind Before You Start

Resistance in the form of dumbbells will help you perform an upper body workout routine more effectively. As a beginner, it is important to choose dumbbells with just enough weight that will allow you to complete exercises as an entire set. Which is typically 10-16 repetitions of a movement.

Another thing to think about is a proper warm-up. You should never lift weights or exercise without warming up your muscles. Five to ten minutes of light cardio will warm up your muscles. When you start your fitness routine, you should perform one set of an exercise at a time before moving to the next. This is called a circuit and if you are a beginner, you may be able to complete only one circuit. As you progress, you can add more circuits.

Typical Upper Body Exercises

Push-ups are one of the most versatile exercises and should be included in your upper body workout routine. You can perform these on the floor, against a wall or stationary surface or even an exercise ball. Not only will push-ups work your upper arms and shoulders, they also engage your ab muscles.

A chest or bench press requires dumbbells and will work whether you lie on the floor, an exercise bench or even a Swiss ball. To perform this move, hold the weights over the chest with arms extended. Bend your elbows until they form the shape of a goal post, hold a moment and then extend your arms back up to complete one repetition.

Strengthening your back requires an exercise like the barbell row. You must bend your knees, tilting your torso about 45 degrees while holding the dumbbells in front of your thighs. Next, pull up the weights while keeping your arms near your body. Bring your elbows back while squeezing your shoulder blades together, and then lower them back down to complete one repetition.

There are a number of additional exercises to add to your upper body workout routine. These will thoroughly manipulate each muscle.

Bicep curls, front dumbbell raises, the overhead press, chest flies, wrist curls and kickbacks are just a few others that you can add to your fitness repertoire.

Developing an Upper Body Workout Routine and sticking to it will show results right away. Try it!

Calories Burned Walking Can Differ With Each Individual

by Weight Loss - December 12, 2011

Calories Burned Walking Change with Every Person’s Activity Level

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Your calories burned walking differ from other people’s. For instance, how much you weigh is a primary factor. How fast and how far you walk will influence the caloric burn rate.

Basically, it is the balance of calories – how much you consume each day versus how many you burn through activity.

Calories Burned Walking In order to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume. Fewer caloric intake and high activity levels lead to weight loss.

Therefore, the best scenario is to stick to a healthy low-calorie diet and boost your activity levels.

Understanding Calories and Weight Loss

In order to understand the calories burned walking, you must understand calories themselves. Did you know that 3,500 calories equals one pound of fat? This can bode bad news for you if you decide to indulge in a juicy, thick steak in addition to a plate of Fettuccine Alfredo, a Caesar salad and a decadent dessert. Just one meal could ultimately add a pound of fat to your body – yikes!

Setting a realistic goal of losing one pound a week means that you will need to burn 3,500 more calories than you eat during that week. This could be increasing your walking intensity and distance, eating fewer calories or both. You can safely lose one to two pounds of weight with a combination of increased walking and decreased calories consumed. Counting calories to lose weight can be an effective weight loss method.

How Calories Burned Walking Is Determined

The formula is simple. The distance you walk multiplied by your body weight equals the energy you expend walking. Time is but a minor factor as distance is more important. In addition, the faster you walk the more calories you will burn per mile. If you are new to the “walking to lose weight�? scene, focus more on distance than on speed in the beginning. As the miles become easier, then you can focus on speed. The basic rule of thumb though is walking at an average speed of 3.5 miles per hour, a 140 pound person will burn between 70 to 75 calories. Power walking at a speed of 5 miles per hour, the same size person can burn about 100 calories.

There are several ways you can burn more calories while walking. You can boost the intensity of your walk by using walking poles, wearing a weighted backpack or add movements such as arm pumping or marching. In addition, if you build muscle through weight training, you will lose more weight as muscle tends to burn more calories. Of course, eating a balanced diet with the best nutrition possible benefits you with the calories burned walking too.

Does Walking Help You Lose Weight?

by Weight Loss - December 9, 2011

Does Walking Help You Lose Weight?

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There is one fitness question that is often asked: does walking help you lose weight? The answer is an unequivocal yes! However, you cannot simply take a leisurely stroll and expect to lose weight. You have to go the distance and incorporate other elements to make walking work for you in the weight loss department.

The good news is that walking is cheap! All you need is a good pair of socks and comfortable, supportive walking shoes.

The 10,000 Step Rule Of Thumb

Does Walking Help You Lose Weight You have probably heard that if you can incorporate 10,000 steps into your day, you will be able to lose weight. It seems like an awful lot, but really, it translates into about four to five miles or at least one hour of power walking. You can do this all at once or break it up throughout your day.

Walk before breakfast and dinner; walk during your lunch hour at work. Bypass your car and walk on foot to do your errands. Park at the far end of the parking lot of a store or take the stairs instead of the elevator. There are a myriad of ways to answer that question “does walking help you lose weight?”

Add Intensity To Your Walk

Walking on the treadmill or even around your block will help, but adding intensity will really boost your fat burning powers. Start with a slightly faster than average stroll for approximately five minutes and then add a two minute burst of power walking as fast as you can. Decrease your speed to a brisk walk until you recover your breath, typically about five minutes. Next, add another intense burst of speed of up to a minute, decrease your speed for another few minutes and then add on the power walking speed again. Doing this at odd intervals during your walk will boost your metabolism and increase fat burning.

Another answer to the “does walking help you lose weight” question is incorporating some elements such as hills or stairs during your walk. Inclines boost your heart rate which, in turn, keeps your internal engine revved up to burn more calories. Ankle weights, a weighted belt or even carrying a weighted backpack are additional ways to add intensity.

If you are walking in your neighbourhood around the blocks, make your walking routine into a game. From one corner to another, do a high step march or even lunges. Skipping, taking exaggerated big steps or even walking backward (keep an eye out for hazards in your path) can increase walking intensity too.

Benefits Of Walking

In just one hour of brisk walking, you can burn up to 500 calories, depending on your body weight. Walking every day of the week like this can help you lose almost half a kilogram of fat – and this is with your normal diet! Just imagine what you could lose if you revamped your diet, bypassing trans fats, sodas, candy and fried foods. Does walking help you lose weight? Absolutely! And if you develop a plan for your walking endeavors, you will experience great success in the weight loss department.

Follow these suggestions and the answer to Does Walking Help You Lose Weight will be: Of Course it Does!

Workout Programs For Men

by Weight Loss - December 8, 2011

Workout Programs For Men

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Time is the single biggest problem when creating workout programs for men. There is never enough of it! Luckily, you do not need hours at a time for exercise but you do need to carve out at least 30 to 45 minutes a day to achieve respectable results, depending on your fitness goals. Getting up a little earlier than normal or bumping back bed time are great options to squeeze in a workout in your busy schedule.

A Three Day Per Week Fitness Program

If you follow an exercise routine based on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule, you will be able to keep your weekends free for friends and family time. Plus, a three day routine adheres to some trainers’ advice of one day on and one day off. Workout programs for men that are based on three days will incorporate cardio exercises in addition to strength training using weights or resistance machines.

Each day starts with about 20 minutes of cardio exercise such as the treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike or even jumping rope or marching in place. Anything that will warm up your body and get your heart rate up will work. Just be sure you alternate your cardio options each day.

After cardio each day, you can concentrate on core muscle groups, alternating each day. You might spend 20 to 25 minutes on three or four core exercises working on your arms, chest, and shoulders on Monday whereas on Wednesday it might be your back and legs. Friday could be a combination of the entire body. On all 3 days, abdominal exercises should be added to complete the workout.

Circuit Training Several Days a Week

Intense circuit training for three to four days a week can be an excellent addition to workout programs for men. It takes only 45 minutes at a time and combines a full body workout along with cardio. And because the exercise is intense, there is a lot of fat burning going on. The use of dumbbells adds better results. With circuit training, there are often seven to ten different exercises that are completed in succession, allowing only 10 to 15 seconds of rest in between each one and approximately two minutes between each completed circuit. You should repeat the circuit two or three times in a 45 minute session. Workout Programs for Men

A typical circuit training workout for men will include squats, with dumbbells optional. Mountain climbers, push-ups, ab crunches, dumbbell swings and split jumps are often a part of this routine. You might also include lunges with or without dumbbells, push-up rows, overhead dumbbell presses and front lateral dumbbell raises.

For an effective circuit training workout, you should switch out the exercises in your routine every three or four weeks as your body can become accustomed to them.

Creating workout programs for men based on just a few days a week can work with busy schedules. You can achieve results as long as you stick with your exercise routine regularly. Of course, you will boost your chances of developing a better body if you add a healthy, balanced diet into your fitness plan.

Ab Workouts For Women – No Equipment Needed!

by Weight Loss - December 7, 2011

Ab Workouts For Women – Simple and Effective Routines

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Effective ab workouts for women are an important focus when creating a fitness routine. A strong core or abdominal area is important for overall body stability, particularly spine protection. If you cannot maintain balance during exercise, you risk potential injury. Luckily, there are a number of ab exercises to try that require no special equipment beyond an exercise mat.

The Bicycle Crunch

The most effective ab workouts for women should always include the bicycle crunch. This exercise engages all of the muscles in the abdominal area, particularly the rectus abdominis and the obliques, otherwise known as the “six-pack” muscles and “waist” muscles.

To execute this exercise, lie down on the floor and place your hands behind your head for support. Press your lower back area into the floor and raise your knees to a 45 degree angle. Pump your legs slowly in a bicycling motion while twisting your torso up. Touch your left elbow to your right knee and then your right elbow to your left knee. Take care not to pull on your neck and breathe in and out evenly. Your goal is to do 10-15 crunches and repeat the set three times.

The Superman Exercise

For overall abdominal strength, the Superman exercise is quite effective. Lie down on the floor, face down and stretch your arms out over your head. (Picture Superman when he is flying!). Raise your left arm a few inches above the ground at the same time as your right leg. Hold this pose for up to five seconds and then repeat the process with the opposite leg and arm. You should work up to 10-15 poses per set and repeat the set three times.

The Long Arm Crunch

Traditional abdominal crunches can strengthen and tone your stomach area but a variation called the long armed crunch is actually more effective at toning your six-pack muscles.

Ab Workouts for Women To perform this exercise, you lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, just like the traditional version. However, with this type of crunch, you will extend your arms over your head and clasp your hands together, keeping the arms tucked in by your ears. Engage your abs, pulling your navel in and elevate your shoulder blades off the floor. Lower this pose and repeat 10-15 times per set and repeat the set three times. Keep your neck steady during this exercise to avoid straining it.

If you have not engaged in a regular fitness program for a while, it may take some time to work up to multiple sets of these exercises. Also, keep in mind that ab workouts for women should not be the your only exercise to lose weight and define your stomach area. A healthy, balanced diet and an effective cardio workout are necessary to help melt away the fat in your stomach area so that your ab muscles can be seen to their best advantage.